We work with families in over 40 countries to ensure children are safe, happy and successful during their time at a UK boarding school. There's no question we can't answer! Browse through some of the most popular ones we hear below.
At English Country Guardians (ECG), we understand that guardianship can be a new concept for many of our parents. Families often ask us, "Why do we need a guardian? We are the parents. Can't the school just contact us?"
However, every boarder whose home is overseas or whose parents currently live or are posted abroad must have a nominated guardian for the duration of their stay at boarding school in England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland.
This guardian must be resident in the UK. A guardian is an adult or company - such as English Country Guardians - who takes charge of the student and represents the parents in their absence while a student is enrolled in a UK boarding school. In the event of an emergency, the guardian will be the first point of contact. Parents will, of course, also be contacted, but the guardian will act in their absence with delegated parental responsibility.
When English Country Guardians is your child’s guardian, we take care of matching your child with the best host family, plus all travel arrangements and many other services.
The host family is the family that your child stays with during holidays or term breaks.
You can think of English Country Guardians like parents who take care of all the responsibilities, and the host families are like the grandparents who can enjoy the children!
Most schools require international students to use a guardian that is accredited by the Association for the Education and Guardianship of International Students (AEGIS), which rigorously inspects and accredits guardianship organisations throughout the UK.
English Country Guardians and our parent company Academic Families are recognised to the highest levels by AEGIS, the Boarding Schools’ Association, the British Council, English UK and Youth Mental Health England for our professionalism and expertise.
Learn more about all of our accreditations and quality marks.
Once we understand the support your child needs, then we can recommend one of our service packages to meet your requirements - or you can select the service level yourself if you prefer. You can always move between packages if your needs change.
We use an international education payment platform – Flywire – which allows you to pay in your local currency and by your preferred payment method – credit and debit card payments as well as local bank transfers are accepted. Flywire guides you each step of the payment process and has support in most languages.
We have a fantastic Airport Assistance service which is very popular with our younger children. Our chaperone will meet your child at the plane door, escort them through the airport (Passport Control, changing terminals and shops) and then take them to the gate for their connecting flight.
As soon as you have appointed us as your guardian, you will be assisted with everything you need for coming to the UK - such as ordering your child's school uniform and equipment.
Once your child arrives we will assist with UK mobile phone sims, pocket money and everything your child needs when they start school.
Learn more about all of our services at each stage of your child's UK educational journey.
Yes! English Country Guardians are available 24 hours each day. We are close to your child’s school so we can reach them quickly in the event of an emergency.
You and your child can contact us if they need anything. We are always ready to help your child. We realise that what may be a small issue, like a broken phone, will be a big problem to a student.
For special occasions like birthdays we deliver cakes, flowers and balloons – whatever is required to make your child’s day extra special for them.
Yes! Thanks to the country-wide network of our parent organisation Academic Families, we can support international students anywhere in the UK. If you have children at different boarding schools, we can provide our premium guardianship services for all of them, no matter where they are! Moreover, if your child changes schools when moving on to a sixth form college or university, our support will remain constant.
We understand that starting school in the UK is a big adjustment. Our team of local Guardians are based throughout the UK so that they can meet new students at the start of term and be on hand to solve any issues. We have excellent relationships with the schools we work with and regularly liaise with school staff to find solutions for students who may be struggling. We find that students take the first term to fully settle in, but we are here on the ground to support your child all year round.
Absolutely! We have a team of experienced staff members who can attend the meetings and write up a report for you as well as convey any concerns you may have about your child's progress.
Yes. Once you sign up with English Country Guardians, we will hold an Student Expense Account (SEA) and from this we can give your children pocket money, pay for taxis, meals out, etc. At the end of their guardianship, the remaining balance will be credited back to you.
Yes, we can take your child to the dentist or orthodontist and we can accompany them to doctor appointments too.
Our team are delighted to help your child plan which Open Days and talks they would like to attend. We can also easily accompany them on visits. Given that we are located here in the UK, we have a strong network of British universities and can also advise on which ones might be the best match for your child.
As well as guardianship, we provide admissions services for international students who want to attend UK universities. Please contact us to find out more about our university services.
We would be delighted to!
Our team have a lot of professional and personal experience applying to Oxford and Cambridge universities. Your child's boarding school will advise your child how to apply to university, but international students in particular can always benefit from extra assistance.
We can help with the UCAS application personal statement questions ensuring they are comprehensive and compelling – school won’t help with this. We can also organise practice interviews and university visits to meet some of our alumni who are studying in higher education now.
Yes, we are always happy to supply a reference from a parent who has used our guardianship services.
Please see our Testimonials page or email us at hello@englishcountryguardians.co.uk.
Absolutely. Your child’s account with English Country Guardians includes health information such as food or pet allergies, medications, diet preferences and more. All of these factors are considered during the host matching process.
We try our hardest to place each child with the same host family but on occasion, the host family may be unavailable. In these cases, we will match your child with another one of our fabulous families.
Switching families is often beneficial, as it gives your child more exposure to different lifestyles, British accents and the chance to make even more new friends.
We pride ourselves on our matching and take a lot of time getting to know your child, however, if there is an occasion that your child is not happy, we will find an alternative host family.
Our team of professional drivers will happily transfer your child from school to their host family and back again. All our drivers are security screened and police checked.
We recommend that you start looking for a school around 18 months before enrolment, however late applications (less than a year before the intended start date) can still be placed. Contact us to get started!
Yes! The team at our parent company, Academic Families, are experts in assisting with the boarding school application process. We know exactly what schools are looking for, so we are happy to provide tips, and we can run practice interviews with your child.
Your child’s exams depend on which school they attend. The most common options for international students in the UK include GCSEs and A-levels, Highers and IB qualifications. We know which schools offer which exams, so we can help you find a school that offers the qualifications that best suit your child’s needs.
Our team at our parent company, Academic Families, are experts at finding the best school for your child. When we start looking for a school, we take lots of factors into account. These usually include things like location, size, cost, extracurricular activities, and school specialisms. You might also have preferences regarding the boarding houses, pastoral care and additional learning support. These are some additional things to keep in mind when choosing your UK boarding school.
Our first step is to get to know you and your child. By fully understanding your preferences, we can provide a shortlist of schools that suit your wants and needs. We work with over 450 schools across the UK, so we really do have the perfect school for everyone!
Would you like to become a host family?
If you are based in the UK and are interested in learning how you can host an international student when they're not staying in their boarding school, then we'd love to hear from you!
New host families are registered via our parent company, Academic Families. See their webpage to read our FAQs for UK host families.
Whether you're a parent, student or future host family, get in touch with us today and we will contact you to discuss how we can help!
© 2025 English Country Guardians | part of the Academic Families group
